When a 26 year old former Super Bowl MVP is traded, it raises eyebrows. When it’s only for a fifth round pick, it drops jaws.
Such is the case of Santonio Holmes, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers and currently of the New York Jets. Holmes was traded over the weekend after the Steelers, known league-wide for their emphasis on character, deemed him unworthy of the black and gold. While his transgressions — marijuana usage, alleged domestic abuse — would get a shrug from many organizations, they didn’t from Pittsburgh, who would have released him if they didn’t find a trading partner. But they did, and the biggest transaction of the new decade followed.
But this is not a column extolling the virtues of a morally guided organization. Leave that to Rick Reilly. Instead, let’s look at the events leading up to Pittsburgh’s disillusionment with Holmes and the ramifications therein. Specifically, let’s look at Twitter.
A friend described Twitter as the single biggest threat to public relations professionals and other athlete handlers. Why? Examine the record. Holmes, who will be suspended for the first four games of 2010 for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, tweeted about a “wake n bake,” which, as any college student can confirm, has a little something to do with pot. But that’s not all: in the wake of his domestic disturbance case, Holmes told a critical follower of his Twitter feed to “kill urself.” Did those two incidents directly lead to Holmes being traded? Hard to say. But when you essentially confirm that you’re smoking Mary Jane and viscerally react to a supposed fan over an act of violence, it can only confirm prior beliefs.
These are the pitfalls of Twitter, or any avenue, microblogging or otherwise, that allows for athletes to directly interact with the public. While the overall media relations scene is still largely similar to the one of the olden days of 2006, there are now easier ways to sidestep accepted norms — namely, social networks. Twitter enabled Robert Henson of the Washington Redskins to call out his team’s fans, Terrell Owens to take a swipe at Tony Romo and Holmes to dig himself deeper into a hole. Some players, like Owens, don’t control themselves on camera, either, but for others, the internet enables a “keyboard warrior” mentality that may otherwise be absent.
But while there are obvious issues posed by Twitter, it also has a number of positive uses in the sports world. For example, I know a talk show host who secured guests of high stature just by chatting with them through tweets — his program went from sometimes having no call-ins at all to having professional athletes on a week-to-week basis. It is not a conventional way of securing talent, but it works.
My own experience with Twitter through the lens of a reporter has been enlightening. Although initially apprehensive of the platform, I set up the Daily’s sports account and have curated it since. A number of current, future and past Stanford athletes have accounts and, while much is not athletically focused, it has become valuable if only for the nuggets of information it provides.
Ekom Udofia, for instance, is training for the NFL Draft. He posted his bench press reps and 10-yard split times on Twitter for all to see. When he threw up an impressive 35 (or 36, depending on who you ask) repetitions of 225 pounds at the Cardinal’s Pro Day, it was seen as a fairly surprising total. But for followers of his tweets, it appeared on par with what he’d been doing previously.
His coach, Jim Harbaugh, is a notorious tweeter with 329,000 followers to his name. His posts range from 40-yard dash times to recruit signings to practice thoughts to the academic success of his players. Again: isolated yet helpful pieces of knowledge. As a reporter, it only helps.
It holds interest for fans, too. A number of Stanford women’s basketball coaches and players have accounts and tweet about their road trips and send out virtual thanks to their supporters.
It adds up to this: Holmes presents a social networking horror story, and indeed, there is great potential for harm. But for the cognizant athlete — of which Stanford has an abundance — it provides a safe, yet unfiltered communication tool.
As more and more players flock to Twitter, the previous barriers to direct contact continue to break down. Contrary to the experiences of a few individuals, the situation that presents is not an inherently dire one.
Wyndam Makowsky could not possibly limit his thoughts on anything to 140 characters. Find out how hard Twitter is for him at [email protected].